Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the presence and nature of EEG clusters within a clinically-referredsample of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), and whether behavioural differencesexist between clusters.Method: Participants were 155 boys with AD/HD and 109 age- and gender-matched controls. EEG wasrecorded during an eyes-closed resting condition and Fourier transformed to provide estimates for totalpower, and relative delta, theta, alpha, and beta. EEG data were grouped into 3 regions, and subjected toCluster Analysis. Behavioural data for each cluster were compared against the remaining AD/HD subjects.Results: Four EEG clusters were found. These were characterised by (a) elevated beta activity, (b) elevatedtheta with deficiencies of alpha and beta, (c) elevated slow wave with less fast wave activity, and (d) elevatedalpha. An exploratory analysis of behavioural correlates with these EEG subtypes indicated thepresence of interesting trends that need further investigation.Conclusions: This study found that the AD/HD EEG profiles reported in past studies are robust and notsubstantially affected by the inclusion of children with other comorbid conditions. The observed groupdifferences in behavioural profiles indicated that different patterns of EEG activity have importance indetermining behaviour.Significance: This is the first study to link behavioural profiles of children with AD/HD to specific EEGabnormalities.